Cat woke up to several inches of fresh snow on Saturday morning and begged Ben to let her go outside and throw snowballs at her brothers when they finished the barn chores. "Please Pa. This is the best time because all three of them are in the barn and I can get them when they come out."
Ben hesitated and Abel said, "Let her go and have her fun. We're only young once and should enjoy childhood while we can. It won't be that many more years before some young man asks you for her hand in marriage. The worst thing that will happen is all four of your children will be covered in snow have to brush it off themselves before coming in for breakfast. Otherwise they'll all be scolded by Hop Sing for bringing snow into the house and having it melt all over the floor."
"Alright Catherine. Go and throw snowballs at your brothers. Just be sure to brush all of the snow off yourself before you come in the house. I do not want to listen to Hop Sing yelling this early in the morning."
Cat hugged Ben. "Thanks Pa." She gave Abel an even bigger hug. "Thanks lots Grandpa. I don't think Pa would have let me if you hadn't said to." She hurried into her hat, coat, and mittens, and ran outside to the side of the barn and started making snowballs. Adam was the first one out of the barn and immediately found himself under attack. Hoss and Joe met the same fate when they walked out of the barn. "This is war little sister," said Joe, throwing a snowball back at her. Before long, the snowballs were flying fast and furious with Cat getting the worst end of it, being attacked by all three of her brothers.
Abel walked outside ten minutes later to tell them breakfast was ready. He stood in the yard, laughing as Cat tried throwing three snowballs at once, only to be pelted by three. "Alright you four. Breakfast is ready. Be sure and get all of the snow off yourselves so Hop Sing doesn't get upset." He returned to the house and told Ben and Hop Sing about the four siblings. They walked outside and laughed at the sight of Cat covered in snow from head to toe.
"Cat, next time, I recommend just throwing snowballs at just one of your brothers," laughed Ben. "You will stand a better chance of not being completely covered in snow."
"Missy Cat look funny covered in snow. Breakfast ready," laughed Hop Sing. "Get snow off outside and come eat."
At breakfast, Cat asked, "Pa, can I give Ginger to Laura and Mary for Christmas?"
"Why do you want to do that?"
"She never gets ridden any more and then Laura and Mary could ride to school with me, Jas, and Mike. We're all reading the same book. Me, Jas, and Mike talk about it on the way to school and they could talk about it with us."
"That's Jasper, Mike and I," Ben corrected. "Give me a few days to think about it. I'll let you know by the middle of the week."
Cat wasn't happy with Ben's answer and started to argue but Joe put a hand on her arm and gave her a warning look. She didn't want to get in trouble, especially that close to Christmas because if she did, Santa might not bring her that sled she wanted so she just said, "Ok".
Ben noticed the look on Cat's face and the warning look she got from Joe. "I take it you're not happy with my answer."
"No sir."
"Why not?"
"'Cause I don't want to wait until Wednesday. I don't like waiting and want to know now."
"You need to learn to be patient and wait for what you want."
"Why?"
"Because patience is a virtue and everybody needs it."
"What's a virtue?"
"It's a good quality."
"Oh, but I still don't like waiting."
"I understand but you're going to have to." Cat just sighed at her father's response.
"Cat, are you coming with me to get Mary and Laura?" asked Adam.
"Can I drive the buggy?"
"It's 'May I', and I'll have to see how much snow is on the main road. You're not used to driving it in snow. If the road doesn't have too much snow on it, you may drive."
"Ok, but I have to hug Fury first. I haven't seen him yet this morning and don't want him to forget me."
"Dog gone if you ain't the silliest little critter ever," said Hoss. "That colt loves ya and ain't never gonna forget ya. I don' think he'll forget ya even ifn ya were ta go away for a few years."
Adam drove the buggy to the main road. When he saw wheel tracks in the snow, he handed the reins to Cat and told her to just stay in the wheel tracks as much as possible. On the way to pick up Laura and Mary, Cat looked at Adam and said, "I forgive you for going in my room and looking at all my things and for trying to find out what I was doing at Mr. Miller's store. But I won't forgive you if you do it again. I wasn't going to tell you but Reverend Long said I had to."
"Thank you little sister. I promise, I'll never go in your room and look through your things without your permission ever again and I'll never again try to find out what you're doing when you're working on a project with someone. Pa and Grandfather both yelled at me and told me that if I ever did it again, we would be having a necessary discussion in the barn."
Cat couldn't believe her ears. "Pa and Grandpa were going to take you to the barn and give you a spanking? I thought you were too old to get a spanking. You're lots older than me."
"That doesn't matter to Pa. He says that as long as we live in his house, we have to obey his rules or suffer the consequences and it doesn't matter how old we are. Why weren't you going to tell me?"
"'Cause I figured if you didn't know I forgave you, you would never be mean to me again."
Adam laughed and hugged Cat. "You are a little scamp. Not telling someone you have forgiven them isn't necessarily going to keep them from hurting you again. I truly am very sorry for the way I have been treating you and I am trying to change the way I think of and treat you. I was wrong the way I treated Joe when I came home from college and the way I've treated you was just as wrong. You are my baby sister and I love you very much. I don't ever want you to be afraid of me or to be afraid to come and tell me when something is bothering you." At the look on Cat's face when he said she was his baby sister, Adam quickly added, "I didn't say you were a baby, because you aren't. I said you were my baby sister and that's true, just like Joe is my baby brother and you know I don't think of Joe as being a baby anymore. Remember, I am twelve years older than Joe, so that makes me twenty two years older than you and that means you and Joe are my baby sister and brother. Even when you're all grown up and have children of your own, you will still be my baby sister. Also, because you are the youngest child in the family, that makes you the baby of the family. Joe was until you were born, now you are. When one of the four of us has a child, he or she will be the baby of the family."
After they reached the Ingalls' farm, Adam reminded Mary and Laura to bring their dresses for the dance and church as well as their night clothes as they would be spending the night at the Ponderosa. Cat was super excited about Laura and Mary spending the night. Except for the night that Mike spent on the Ponderosa, she had never had a friend sleep over before because there was no room in Matt's office for anyone but him and her. She had spent many nights at the Tanner's house but that was different as she had shared a bedroom with the younger girls and slept in a bed by herself, but this time her friends would be sharing her bed.
When they walked into the barn on the Ponderosa, Laura and Mary were thrilled to see that Adam had drawn the flowers, lake and trees on the sides and back of the cart. He also had several different colors of paint and small brushes laid out for the girls. "Cat, please go up to my room and get those shirts you girls have been using and bring one for me too. There's a lot of work to be done still so I'm going to help you girls paint. Don't run in the house because if you do, you'll get in trouble with Pa and I know you don't want to face the consequences when you have friends here."
Cat ran to the house and, forgetting about Adam's warning, started to run through the house. "Catherine Michael, are you running in the house?" came Ben's voice from the great room.
"No sir, not yet."
Ben and Able chuckled at her answer. "Well, see to it that you don't. If you do, you will suffer the consequences even though you have friends here. What are you supposed to be doing?"
"Adam asked me to go to his room and get the shirts we've been using to paint in."
"Alright then. Walk upstairs, get the shirts and walk back outside."
Once everyone was wearing one of Adam's old shirts, he said, "Paint the sky and grass first and be careful not to paint over where I've drawn the tree, lake, and flowers. We'll paint them after dinner. It will go faster if one person paints the sky on a board and another paints the grass. I'm going to help you so there will be four people working and we'll finish sooner." By the time they finished painting the grass and sky on the three boards, there were still about thirty minutes remaining until dinner so Mary and Cat challenged Laura and Adam to a snowball fight. By the time Ben went out to tell them to wash up for dinner, it was hard to tell which team was winning the fight. He stood there and laughed at the sight of his eldest son and the three girls covered in snow.
"Dinner is almost ready," he laughed. "Be sure to brush all of the snow off yourselves and wash up."
After dinner, Adam walked out to the barn to see if the paint was dry. He returned to the house a few minutes later and said, "The paint isn't quite dry yet. I think we should give it at least another hour before doing the trees, lakes, and flowers. Why don't you girls play in Cat's room and I'll let you know when the paint is completely dry?"
The girls played in Cat's room for a while when Mary asked, "Cat, will your hoop roll in the snow?"
"I don't know. I never had one before. It's in the barn. Let's go see if it will."
The three girls walked downstairs and started putting their hats, coats, and mittens on. "Where are you girls going?" asked Ben.
"We're going to see if Cat's hoop will roll in the snow," answered Mary.
Adam started to tell them it wouldn't but Ben shook his head. "Ok girls. Have fun and I hope it works." Once the girls were outside, Ben looked at Adam and said, "Telling a child that something won't work will just discourage them from trying to do anything. Children learn by doing things and seeing what works. Do you remember when we were with the wagon train and you made a rabbit trap? Because I had seen the other boys setting snares, I knew yours wouldn't work but that was something you needed to learn for yourself. I didn't tell you it wouldn't work because I didn't want to discourage you from trying something new. It's the same with your sister and her friends. They should not be afraid to try new things because they might fail. It is only by trying and failing or succeeding that we learn what works and what does not. Think about your years in college. Did all of your projects turn out correctly the first time?" Adam admitted that they had not. "What did you do?"
"I kept redoing them until I found a design that worked."
"Would you have continued trying if someone had told you your designs would not work?"
"I don't know. Part of me says no but part of me says I would have just to prove the naysayer wrong."
"You were eighteen when you left for college and part of you says you probably would not have continued trying if somebody had said your design would fail. Your sister is nine. How do you think she would react if someone told her that she would fail at something she was trying to do?"
"She would probably quit trying."
"Yes and not only that time but she may never attempt to do something new again and that would be a shame."
The girls discovered that they could not use the hoop with the stick because it wouldn't roll in the snow properly. However, they learned that if they didn't stand too far apart and rolled it fast enough, the hoop would travel short distances in the snow. Adam walked outside to see if the paint on the cart boards had dried and chuckled to himself when he saw the girls playing with the hoop. His father was right and he was glad he hadn't told the girls the hoop wouldn't roll in the snow. He wouldn't have wanted to have been responsible for discouraging the girls from trying new things. He walked into the barn and, finding the paint dry, called the girls in to finish painting the boards.
When they had finished, Laura and Mary were thrilled at how all of their hard work had turned out. "What if Ma sees the boards before Christmas?" worried Laura. "Won't she know what they're for?"
"That isn't very likely to happen," said Adam. "Hoss, Joe, and I won't put the cart together until next week. If your mother happens to come in here, sees the boards and asks what they're for, I can honestly answer that they're part of a Christmas gift for someone special. It's pretty hard to tell exactly what the boards are for just by looking at these three. You girls have a little more time to play and then you'll need to take your baths before supper because we're leaving for the dance right after we eat." The rest of the Ingalls family arrived shortly after the girls had bathed and dressed for the dance. Leaving Carrie in Hop Sing's care, everyone left for the dance as soon as supper was finished. Cat wanted to drive the surrey but Ben said no because she wasn't used to driving it at night. She wasn't happy but didn't argue as she knew if she did, she wouldn't be allowed to attend the dance.
Everyone had a good time at the dance. Joshua, Thaddeus, and some of the other hands were there and made sure to dance with all three girls. While Jasper and Mike were trying to decide which one of them was going to ask Cat to dance the Virginia Reel with them, Mitch Harris asked her and she accepted so Mike danced with Mary and Jasper with Laura. When they returned to the Ponderosa, three tired girls climbed the stairs and went into Cat's room. They talked and laughed for a little while after the adults said goodnight and blew out the lamp. Ben was going to go upstairs and scold them when Caroline said, "Wait a few minutes Ben. None of them has ever had a friend spend the night with them and they're excited. They've had a long day and are tired. My guess is that they'll be sound asleep within the next fifteen minutes." Caroline's prediction proved to be true as all sounds from upstairs ceased within ten minutes and when Ben went to check on the girls, he found three girls and two dogs sound asleep in Cat's bed. He wished Abel Goss was there with his camera but since he wasn't, he asked Adam to draw the scene.
The next morning, the three older girls helped Hop Sing make breakfast. Laura and Cat made the bacon and flapjacks, Mary made the eggs, while Hop Sing made the sausage and toast. Hoss couldn't believe that Hop Sing was letting the girls in the kitchen while he was cooking. "Them girls must have bewitched ol' Hop Sing. He always takes his spoon to me whenever I go in the kitchen while he's cooking."
"That's because you're always trying to steal food," replied Adam. "The girls are helping and learning how to cook."
"Besides that," added Joe. "Hop Sing thinks of Cat as his little girl and will do almost anything for her."
When they left for church, Cat wanted to drive the surrey. Ben was going to say no when Charles said, "Let her drive. She needs to learn to handle wagons, the surrey, and buggy in the snow as well as the rain and good weather. You, Adam, Hoss, or Joe can sit up front with her and be ready to help if the need arises. As we've told you before, you can't treat her like a china doll and expect her to like it. Accidents happen. They're a part of life and Cat will learn from them."
Ben sighed and said, "Yes Catherine, you may drive but one of your brothers needs to sit up front with you in the event you need help. Which one of them do you want with you?"
Cat thought for a minute and said, "I want my big twin with me. You make him work so much he doesn't have time to play with me any more." Ben chuckled at Cat calling Joe her big twin. She hadn't done that since she visited last Christmas.
Hoss walked up to Joe and said, "Yore little twin wants ya."
"Thanks Hoss." Joe walked up to Cat and said, "Hey Little Twin. Hoss said you want me."
"Pa says I can drive the surrey to church but you, Hoss, or Adam has to sit up front with me and I want you to."
"Of course I'll sit up front with you. Are Mary and Laura going to sit up front with us too?"
"Yes they are."
Before they could continue the conversation, Caroline said, "Girls, you need to get in the surrey now so we're not late for church." Adam, Hoss, and Joe each helped one of the girls into the surrey and Hoss picked Carrie up and put her in the middle seat.
"Whose lap are you gonna sit on?" he asked.
"Yours Hoss."
After church, Jasper and Mike wanted to ride home in the Cartwright's surrey but were told no by their parents. Mr. Devlin and Mr. King both told their sons that the surrey was already full with the Cartwright and Ingalls families and there was no room for them. The boys were disappointed but knew better than to argue. Cat also wanted her friends to ride in the surrey but received the same answer from Ben as they did from their fathers.
After dinner, Charles and Caroline wanted to go home but Adam reminded them that he was taking the girls to Winnemucca's village to pick out an Indian pony for someone. Hoss and Joe helped saddle horses for the girls and helped them mount. Adam took Carrie from Hoss and they rode off to buy a horse from Winnemucca. When they arrived at the Indian village, the chief took them to a rope corral where he had about ten horses for them to look at. The attention of all four girls was immediately drawn to a black mare that had white spots all over her. "That one," they all said together.
"She's pretty," said Carrie.
"She looks like the night sky when it's full of stars," said Mary. She and Laura looked at each other and said, "We can call her Starlight."
"Girls," said Adam gently. "Remember, she is a gift for someone. Don't you think it would be best if that person named her?"
"You're right Adam," said Mary. "We were just so excited that we didn't think about letting the person who's getting her be the one to name her."
"That's alright. I understand your excitement and I think you made a good choice. She is a very beautiful animal. Let me pay the chief for her and then we need to go back to the ranch. Your parents want to go home." He looked at the girls and suddenly realized Carrie was not with them. "Where's Carrie?"
While they were talking about the mare's name, Carrie grew bored and wandered off to play with some of the village children without telling anyone what she was going to do or asking if she could.
Laura, Mary, and Cat just looked at each other. "She was here a few minutes ago," said Mary.
"We need to look for her. I want the three of you to stay together while you look for her and I'll talk to Winnemucca and ask if he's seen her."
After almost fifteen minutes of searching, the girls found Carrie playing with the Indian children. Mary grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the other children and began scolding her. "Pa is going to tan your hide! You know better than to go off on your own! We have spent a lot of time looking for you and Adam is very angry and may give you a few swats. He brought you with us today because you are too small to help with what we've been doing and this is how you repay him, by wandering off without asking permission or telling anybody where you were going! What if you had wandered off in the wrong direction and gotten lost? How would Laura and I tell Ma and Pa that you were lost and nobody could find you? How do you think they would feel if that happened? You're going to be six years old in August and will be starting school. Are Laura and I going to have to spend our recess and dinner times watching to make sure you don't wander off? Is one of us going to have to take you to the outhouse so you don't wander off? Let's go. We need to let Adam know we found you. He's looking for you too." Laura took Carrie's other hand and she and Mary practically drug their little sister to where the horses were tied.
Adam returned from his search a few minutes later. He also scolded Carrie for wandering off and gave her two firm swats before putting her in his saddle. "Cat, would you please tie the mare's rope onto your saddle horn? I'm going to have my hands full with Carrie and don't want her spooking the mare."
"Sure Adam. I can take the mare home. Hoss and Joe taught me how to tie a rope to a saddle horn."
"Thank you Cat. I appreciate your help."
When they returned to the ranch house, Mary told her parents what Carrie had done and Adam told them he had given her two swats. Charles looked at his youngest daughter and said, "You are in a lot of trouble little girl and will be punished when we get home. You're not a little baby anymore and know better than to just wander off without permission. You owe Adam, your sisters, and Cat an apology. They had to spend a lot of time looking for you and that wasn't fair to them. I don't know what Santa is going to do about a little girl who can't stay with her sisters for more than a few minutes. He may not bring her many presents if he even brings her any at all." Carrie started crying at the thought of Santa not bringing her anything and apologized to her sisters, Adam, and Cat who forgave her. Once the Ingalls returned to their own home, Charles took Carrie into her bedroom and used his belt on her bare bottom just as he had done with Laura when she was four and had slapped Mary and pulled her hair. Then he told her that she would not be allowed out of the house without having someone with her, even if she had to use the outhouse and that her mother would have chores for her to do while her sisters were in school.
After the Ingalls left, Adam put his arm around Cat and said, "Come on Squirt. Let's see about getting that mare fed and bedded down. With two of us fixing up a stall and feeding her, we'll be done in no time and maybe we can sweet talk Hop Sing into giving us some hot cocoa and cookies."
"Adam?"
"Yes Cat?"
"Can I help put the cart together? I want to see how it's done."
"Of course you can little sister. But we won't have time for you to apologize to each nail for hitting it. You can apologize to the whole bucket at once."
Cat giggled at the reminder of how she helped her brothers mend fences. "Ok. I guess I can apologize to all of the nails at once but I'd feel better if I could apologize to each one. They never did anything to me so it doesn't seem right to hit them with a hammer."
"How I ended up with such a silly little sister I'll never know. The nails aren't alive and can't feel anything. Hitting a nail with a hammer isn't the same as hitting a person. Do you think Mr. Samuels apologizes to horseshoes and nails when he's shoeing a horse?"
"I don't know. I suppose he does. If he doesn't, he should."
Adam laughed. "If he did that, he'd never get any work done. Come on Squirt. Let's go and see about getting some hot cocoa and cookies."
The week dragged on for Cat who was looking forward to going shopping in Carson City with Ben. Except for changing from the train to the stage when Ben and Adam brought her home from Dodge, she had never been to Carson City and couldn't wait to explore it. She had an arithmetic test on Thursday and, because Miss Winter was giving the class more time to complete it, she finished all of the problems and got a score of eighty five percent. Saturday finally arrived and she couldn't wait to leave for Carson City. During breakfast, Ben said, "Cat, I'd like you to wear a dress when we go to Carson City today. It's larger than Virginia City and people aren't used to seeing little girls wearing pants. You can wear your winter boots and, even though you'll be wearing your winter coat, hat, and mittens, I'll put some blankets in the buggy so you won't get cold."
Cat sighed. She hated wearing dresses but just said, "Ok Pa. I'll wear a dress."
"Thank you Sweetheart. Since it is cold outside, you can wear your buckskin pants or dungarees under your dress until we get close to Carson City and you can put them back on once we are on the road home."
"Can Lassie and Silver Chief come with us?"
Ben thought for a minute and said, "Let me think about that while you say good morning to Fury and change clothes. Right now, I'd like you to finish your breakfast because I don't want you being hungry on the long drive." After Cat went out to see Fury, Ben looked at the rest of the family and asked, "I'm of two minds regarding bringing Cat's puppies to Carson City with us. What does everyone else think?"
"I don't see why not," replied Abel. "They're very well behaved and shouldn't cause any problems. After all, they go to church with us every Sunday and they're so well behaved, nobody, including the old busy bodies who keep picking on Cat, pays attention to the fact that they're there."
"I think you should take them," said Adam. "They're very protective of Cat and won't let anything happen to her even if the two of you should happen to get separated."
"I think you should Pa," said Joe. "They stick to Cat like glue here on the ranch and I'm sure they'll do the same in Carson City so nobody will be able to steal her away from you."
"It ain't like they're little any more," added Hoss. "They'll be a year old in four months and are almost full growed now. Anyone who tries to hurt little sister will wish they hadn't once them pups get through with them."
"The four of you have convinced me. I will allow Cat to bring her puppies with us."
When Cat came downstairs, Ben decided to tease her a little bit. "I have decided to take your puppies shopping instead of you because they are much better behaved and won't try to spend all of my money at once."
Cat giggled and hugged Ben. "Gee thanks Pa. I promise to try and spend all of your money in two stores instead of just one. Lassie, Chief, you get to come to Carson City with me and Pa. I don't have to leave you home. Isn't that great?"
"I'll get the buggy hitched up for ya," said Hoss. "How many blankets do you want to take?"
"Thank you Hoss," said Ben. "I think three blankets will be enough because Cat will be wearing her winter coat. Please put a pillow in there also in case she's tired and wants to nap on the way home."
As soon as Cat and her puppies were in the buggy she asked, "Can I drive?"
"It's 'May I" and yes you may until we get to Carson City. The roads are much busier than they are in Virginia City and it takes time to learn to drive in all that traffic."
"Don't worry Pa. Lassie and Silver Chief will make everyone get out of my way."
Ben chucked and hugged his daughter. "I wouldn't be surprised if they tried but right now, it would be best if I drove once we get to the city. We'll go there again when it's not so busy. Remember, Christmas is a week from today and many people are out shopping so the streets will be crowded." When they reached the outskirts of Carson City, Ben took the reins from Cat and told her to take her pants off. He drove the buggy to the livery stable and said they would be back for it later.
As they walked along the street toward some of the stores, Cat couldn't believe how big and busy the city was. "Wow Pa. Carson City sure is big. Is it as big as Albuquerque? Do we have time to see all of it? I want to look in all of the stores."
Ben laughed and hugged Cat. "I don't know if the two cities are the same size, but they appear to be similar. We're going to be here all day and you'll have plenty of time to look in a lot of stores. We're going to be eating dinner in a restaurant that's a lot fancier than the International, which is one reason I asked you to wear a dress today."
Cat happily walked along side Ben with her puppies. She stopped to look in almost every shop window. When they passed a dress shop, Cat spied a very pretty hat she thought Kitty would like. "Look Pa. Isn't that hat pretty? I bet Miss Kitty would like it. I know she likes pretty hats and parasols. Can I buy it for her?"
"Why don't we go in and ask to look at it and if it's as pretty as it looks in the window, you may buy it for Kitty." Ben paid for the hat and asked the store owner if they could leave it there until they came back as they had a lot of shopping to do. When they came to a men's clothing store, Ben asked, "Why don't we see if they have any vests that will fit Matt? I'd also like to see if I can buy a new suit as mine is getting old."
Seeing several racks of vests, Cat asked, "What size should I get for Uncle Matt and how many can I get?"
"Kitty sent me his measurements," he said pulling a piece of paper out of his coat pocket. "Give these to the gentleman behind the counter and he'll help you. You may buy three vests. While I'm getting measured, why don't you look around and see if you can find something for your cousins, brothers, Rip, Joshua, Thaddeus, and Pete?"
Cat handed the paper to the clerk and asked him to help her get the correct size vests for Matt. Then she said, "I want to get some for my Pa too, but I don't know what size to get."
"You are a very thoughtful young lady. Wait right here and I'll ask the tailor. Don't worry, I'll take him aside and whisper so your Pa won't know what I'm asking." He returned a few minutes later and helped Cat pick out three vests for Ben.
Cat's brothers and grandfather had given her money to buy something for him so she paid the clerk for his vests. "Please don't tell Pa I bought these. They're for his Christmas present."
"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I'll wrap all six vests together and I'll pin a piece of paper to the top one and fourth one with names on them so you know who the vests are for."
"Thank you very much."
The clerk noticed the puppies were keeping themselves between Cat and the door and asked, "Are those your dogs?"
"Yes they are. The collie is Lassie and the other one is Silver Chief. They go almost everywhere with me, even to church. Pa won't let them go to school with me because he says all the kids would spend more time playing with them than doing their lessons."
"Your Pa is a very wise man."
Ben came out from the back where he had been getting measured and said, "Come on Kitten. I need you to help me pick out a suit."
Cat looked at the suits and said, "I can't decide between the blue, green, and gold."
The clerk said, "Sir, it might help your daughter decide if you tried the jackets on so we can see which color looks best on you." Ben tried them on and Cat chose the blue suit with black trim around the jacket sleeve cuffs and collar. She also picked out two new vests for Hoss while they were in the store.